Essere Umano Lyrics in English Ligabue

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Below, I translated the lyrics of the song Essere Umano by Ligabue from Italian to English.

These lyrics have verified word for word translations. Click any lyric word to see the translation and hear the pronunciation!

Verse 1

To pick the first apple and all the other troubles

To lose your head somewhere sooner or later

To always act smart in the race with destiny

To be for the moment

To be human

Verse 2

To ask some star to take care of it

To shine with your own light and never know it

To cry and kill but in your good clothes

To be decidedly

To be human

Chorus 1

Here, it works like this

One day a nail

One day a hammer

One day a takeoff

Here, it goes on like this

One day a star

One day a laughingstock

On the most beautiful day

Verse 3

To strain your eyes where you can't see anymore

To ask yourself too many times how it's going up there

To pretend that growing up isn't a healthy process

To be for the occasion

To be human

Verse 4

To waste the time you don't have out of sheer boredom

To truly believe you know what you want

To take the antidote to take the poison

To be deeply

To be human

Chorus 2

Here, it works like this

One day a nail

One day a hammer

One day a takeoff

Here, it goes on like this

One day a rock

One day a crystal

One day a collapse

Here, it happens like this

One day a saint

One day a scourge

One day a calm day

Bridge

There's a draft in the soul

You get sick easily

When there's a draft

How much fog

Comes and goes

Verse 5

To laugh for all the good it does you

To get out of bed with someone else, why not

To feel fear and attraction for thunder

To be or not to be

But to be human

Chorus 3

Here, it proceeds like this

One day a nail

One day a hammer

One day a takeoff

Here, it goes on like this

One day an executioner

One day a brother

One day a collapse

Here, it happens like this

One day all guts

One day all brains

One day an interval

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Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Luciano Ligabue

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spiffero — draft / chill

Spiffero literally means 'draft' or 'breeze', often referring to a cold current of air coming through a crack.

In Ligabue's song, he uses it metaphorically in the line "C'è uno spiffero nell'anima" (There's a draft in the soul). This evokes a sense of vulnerability, a subtle but persistent discomfort or weakness that makes one susceptible to emotional 'illness', as he continues with "Ci si ammala facilmente quando c'è corrente" (One gets sick easily when there's a current). It's a unique and evocative image for emotional fragility.

"Essere Umano" ("To Be Human") is Ligabue's list of the small contradictions that come with just being a person. The verses move fast between opposites: catching the first apple and everything that follows it, crying and hurting, staying well dressed on the outside while something else is going on underneath, asking the stars for answers while shining with a light you don't even notice yourself giving off.

The chorus turns that idea into a simple list of roles. One day you're the nail, the next you're the hammer. One day you take off, the next day you're the one everyone laughs at. Ligabue isn't ranking any of these. He's just naming how fast a person can move from one part to the opposite part and back again, sometimes in the same day.

By the end the song lands on something plain: being human means holding fear and wonder at the same time, laughing as hard as you can get away with, and accepting that some days are a win and others are a mess. That's not something to fix. It's just what being human looks like.

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Ligabue Essere Umano Lyrics